“Journey of Faith” Genesis 12: 1 - 4a; Hebrews 11: 1 - 3, 8 - 16

            “I promise to be best friends--forever.”  “I promise to be your loving and faithful husband/wife in plenty and in need, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health.”  “I promise to faithfully uphold the duties of the office of . . .”  

What promises have you made?

            Today’s text recalls the story of God’s covenant with Abraham. Three promises comprise this covenant. 1. God promises to bequeath to Abraham a new land of inheritance--not the land of Ur where he was born and grew up.  2.  God promises to make of Abraham a great nation--blessed with descendants that number as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand by the sea.  3.  God promises to bless Abraham’s family in such a way that through them, all families of the earth will receive God’s blessings.  This story sets the stage for all the other stories in the Bible about God’s relationship with us--God’s people. 

            At the beginning of this story, Abraham had no prior experience with this promising God, so he had no evidence that God’s word could be trusted.  Yet, with the assurance of things hoped for, and with the conviction of things not yet seen, Abraham placed himself, his household, and his flocks in God’s hands. 

            The writer of the book of Hebrews holds Abraham up as a model of faith.  He accepted God’s invitation--“I will be your God.”  Following God’s lead, stepping out of the comfortable familiar, Abraham ventured into the unknown.  His faith is characterized by journey.  So, faith for Abraham was not a belief, as in believing the words of a creed.  Abraham’s faith involved action--physically moving from his homeland. 

            Moving one’s entire household takes time . . . even in 21^st century America with hand trucks for loading and large vans for driving, it takes time to move one’s entire household.  For Abraham it meant traveling a few miles a day, stopping along the way for animals to graze, scouting out water sources, and pitching camp when it came time for lambing. Abraham’s faith required a significant investment of time--time not only for moving his household, but time also for developing the family God promised as heirs.

            Abraham’s faith involved significant trust as well.  Perhaps anxious and possibly fearful, Abraham set out from his birthplace and home base trusting God.  Traveling west from the land of Ur, Abraham and his family encounter deserts, and they trust God to guide them from one oasis to the next.  They encounter other peoples--foreign to them, and they trust God to protect them.  They encounter wilderness areas, and they trust God to provide for them.

            Abraham’s faith involved obedience.  Submitting himself to God, Abraham obeyed God’s command to leave his homeland.  Submitting himself to God, Abraham allowed God to guide his journey.

            Abraham’s faith involved hopeful expectation.  God will deliver on God’s promise of a new land, a land of inheritance not only for Abraham but also for the many descendents God is promising him.  God will deliver on God’s promise of blessing--in such abundance that the blessings will spill over to all families of the earth.

            Years later, Abraham, his wife Sarah, his children, his servants, and his flocks finally arrive in the land God has promised. Still living in tents--not yet owning the land--Abraham comes to the end of his life a sojourner in the land promised by God. It will be another 500 years before his descendants take ownership of this land. But because of his faith, Abraham places just as much value on God’s promise as on the full realization of it. 

            With only one legitimate heir, and nearing the end of his life, Abraham faithfully clings to God’s promise to make of him a great nation--with descendants numbering as the stars in the sky.  Why?  Because Abraham can look back at the journey behind him and see evidence of God’s protection, God’s provision, God’s fulfilled promises along the way. Sometimes we can see more clearly God’s moving in our lives as we look back on our past.

            Pondering Abraham’s story, I wondered how the life of this church has reflected faithful following of God’s direction.  146 years ago, 16 men and women began the journey of faith for First Presbyterian Church.  They obeyed God’s call to charter a Presbyterian church in Paola, KS.  Perusing the histories prepared for the 75^th, 100^th, and 125^th anniversary celebrations; listening to stories from life-long members; and reading letters and memoirs from long-deceased saints of this church, I see themes in this journey of faith.   One is the focus on nurturing the faith of children and youth.  In the 1930s, Miss Pearl Hopkins’ Sunday school class decided which Bible stories their stained glass window would depict.  In the 1940s and 1950s, Miss Berenice Boyd Wallace connected the stories in the Bible with the lives of her junior high students--teaching them to live the pledge:  “I pledge myself to do for others such work as Jesus would do if he were here in person.” Since the late 1970s, various teachers have helped the youngest children in our community to develop physically, emotionally, and intellectually through our PreSchool ministry.  For over 80 years, we’ve partnered with Scouts to build strength of character in boys and youth.  Our history reflects obedience to God’s call. 

            Like Abraham leaving the comfort and familiarity of home, this congregation has stepped out into the uncomfortable unknown.  In the late 1960s, the Presbyterian Women pioneered a Thrift Shop ministry.  Facing opposition of established leadership on the Session, J. P., G. W. and other Presbyterian Women planned, prepared, and worked tirelessly to begin this ministry which has grown and continues to this day. They wanted to provide good used clothing for people facing economic hardships.  Looking back on this time, J. told me--“Mari Lyn, anytime you do something different, there’s going to be opposition. We encountered opposition, but we just stuck with our ministry.” Our history reflects tenacity--insisting that our resources be used as a blessing to others even when it means stepping out into the unknown.

            Over the last 2 years our journeys of faith have intersected and coincided.  I brought my passion for including, welcoming, and working with children to your historical focus on nurturing children and families.  Connections between the church and scouts and between the church and PreSchool were strengthened as your pastor personally related with families touched by these ministries.  We accepted the mantles of Mrs. Berenice Boyd Wallace and Miss Pearl Hopkins’ to teach our children the faith.  The scope was widened--Sunday School and worship. The focus group was widened--including children from outside this congregation--in our day camp.  This summer’s day camp was a natural extension of a deeply-rooted connection between this church and Heartland center camps--a connection that nurtures the development of faith in our children. 

            You invited me into your journey as we visited in your homes, as we held hands in hospital rooms, as we faced and grieved the deaths of loved ones, as we celebrated personal milestones and family members’ achievements, as we laughed and played together.

            Our journeys of faith intersected and coincided for 2 years.  And now they separate. We will continue our journeys of faith--we’re just taking different paths.  Because faith has a long memory and profits from previous experiences, we will continue. Because faith hopes--looking beyond the immediate future and into the future God has planned ultimately, we will continue.  Because faith is tenacious and enduring, accepting God’s promises to be as good as the full realization of those promises, we will continue. 

Because faith involves trust, we will continue.  Even though we do not know exactly where God is leading either of us, we will continue on our journeys of faith.  Discerning the direction God is guiding us is part of our faith journey. And because faith is action, we will continue.

            We will continue because we trust that God keeps God’s promises.  11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.[1]  May our journeys of faith continue to be life-giving and renewing for each of us as individuals and for us as the body of Christ, the church universal.   Amen.

                                   

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[1] Jeremiah 29: 11 NRSV

“Rich Toward God” Luke 12: 13 - 21

21 This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and aren't rich toward God.

            Saving was valued in my family.  I remember going to the Credit Union and opening up a savings account when I was in elementary school.  My parents talked about the account they had there--saving for my brother’s and my college education.  I remember my parents saving for the family vacations we took in the summer.  When my mom got a paid part-time job, I remember her saving her paychecks to buy my Dad a roll-top desk.  No longer would he have to spread out papers, books, and notebooks on the kitchen table each night after supper.  Instead, he would have a place of his own to continue his studies. Saving was valued in my family.  And my brother and I wanted recognition for our saving efforts--you know, a pat on the back.  So, for a couple of years, he and I had a competition--who could save the most from allowance, birthday, and Christmas money.  Now that’s when our saving began to get a little extreme.  For as each of us ramped up our determination to win the competition we began not to spend our money--not on presents for others, not items of necessity for ourselves, not to help someone in need. That is saving to an extreme.  

            A few of years ago, flipping through the TV channels, I came across a show titled “Hoarders.”  The camera crew entered a home in which there were tight paths from one room to the next.  On either side of the paths were stacks and stacks of stuff--all kinds of stuff.  Floor to ceiling, there was stuff.  The homeowner was a hoarder--gathering, collecting, keeping, saving stuff.  She could not let go of it.  It was crowding her out of her home.  Hoarding was consuming her time and her energy.  It was interfering with her life--her job, her play, and her relationships.  Watching the show, I wondered why does she hold onto these things?  Does she think it adds to the quality of her life?  Have you ever known someone who took saving to an extreme?

            21 This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and aren't rich toward God.   In today’s scripture, Jesus warns his audience--and us--against saving to an extreme--to the extreme that interferes with our relationship with God and with others.  He warns us not to be bound by greed.  15 Then Jesus said to them, "Watch out! Guard yourself against all kinds of greed. After all, one's life isn't determined by one's possessions, even when someone is very wealthy."

            Then he proceeds to tell a parable, a story that invites its listeners to enter into a different reality and see from a different perspective--perhaps to see from God’s perspective. 16 . . .  "A certain rich man's land produced a bountiful crop. 17 He said to himself, What will I do? I have no place to store my harvest! 18 Then he thought, Here's what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. That's where I'll store all my grain and goods.  Did you hear those personal pronouns? “My barns, my grain, my goods.” The rich man plans “to expand his storage facilities in order to preserve all his surpluses for himself.”[1]  “There is no mention of employees, who have done and will do the work . . . only my crop, my barn, my grain, my goods and my soul.”[2]  He does not display any “awareness that the bumper crop is a gift from God”[3] or that he might be responsible for using that bounty as God directs.[4] His greed clouds his perspective.  He thinks only of himself.  He does not realize his life is intertwined with the lives of others as well as with God.

            19 I'll say to myself, You have stored up plenty of goods, enough for several years. Take it easy! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. In the Middle East, then and now, village people make important decisions only after long discussions with their family and friends.[5]  But this man discusses with himself.  He appears to have no family or friends. Has his greed severed his connections with God and with his fellow humans?

            20 But God said to him, ‘Fool, tonight you will die. Now who will get the things you have prepared for yourself?' God does not call the rich man evil, wicked, or perverse.  But God does call him foolish.  He’s foolish because he lacks perspective.  Self-absorbed and self-concerned, the rich man has been acting as if he is autonomous, as if he controls his destiny, as if it was through his own efforts alone that he has what he has.  Self-absorbed and self-concerned, he has forgotten the men and women who labored in his fields and those who will work to tear down the old and build the new barns.  He lacks their perspective.  They depend on him to sell or share the bounty of his fields.  Self-absorbed and self-concerned, he has forgotten God who made the fertile earth, who sent the nourishing rain, who set the life-giving sun in the sky. He lacks perspective, for he forgets about death--the eternal equalizer--through whom his “plans become null and void.”[6]  If he is as disconnected from others as it sounds, then no one will mourn him or miss him. He reminds me of Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.

            21 This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and aren't rich toward God."  Jesus holds the rich man in this parable up as a negative example. Jesus says to his listeners, “If you want to be my disciple, then don’t be like this man.”  Like the hoarder on TV who loses sight of everything but the stuff, the rich man in the parable has lost sight.  He lost sight of his connections--with God and with those around him, especially with those in need.  He failed to recognize his bounty as a gift from God to be used for God’s good purposes.  He took saving to the extreme.

            Jesus told this parable to a crowd in which there were probably no rich bystanders. 

So the message in this parable extends to all--the people in the crowd--the poor, the landless peasants, and the skilled laborers--as well as to us today.

            21 This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and aren't rich toward God." Now what exactly does it mean to be rich toward God?  In the scriptures surrounding this text, scriptures we have pondered in the last few weeks, we get insights. “Being rich toward God means using our resources for the benefit of a neighbor in need, as the Good Samaritan did (10:25 - 37). Being rich toward God means intentionally listening to Jesus’ word, as Mary did (10:38 - 42)[7] much to her sister Martha’s consternation. Being rich toward God means prayerfully trusting that God will provide what we need for life (11: 1 - 13; 12: 22 - 31). Being rich toward God means giving alms as a means of establishing a lasting treasure in heaven (12: 32 - 34).”[8] That’s in the scripture following today’s text.

            Being rich toward God means building up relationships rather than building up walls of stuff.  Being rich toward God means tearing down our ego walls, tearing down our barns of fear, so we can grasp the hands of others in need.  Being rich toward God means submitting our lives, our plans, ourselves to God.  Being rich toward God leads to abundant life.

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[1] Kenneth E. Bailey.  Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes:  Cultural Studies in the Gospels.  Downers Grove, IL:  IVP Academic, 2008, p. 300.

[2] Bailey, 304.

[3] Bailey, 304.

[4] Bailey, 304.

[5] Bailey, 303.

[6] Thomas W. Walker.  Luke. Interpretation Bible Studies series.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2001, p. 60

[7] Richard P. Carlson,  “Luke 12: 13 - 21:  Exegetical Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 3.  Edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p. 315.

[8] Carlson, 315.